Premier League - United close to Valencia deal

Eurosport - Tue, 30 Jun 13:07:00 2009

Manchester United are inching closer to making Antonio Valencia their first signing of the summer.

FOOTBALL winger Luis Antonio Valencia, who insisted he is happy at Wigan despite reported interest from Manchester United and Real Madrid. - 0

The Wigan winger has cut his summer break short to try and complete his move to Old Trafford.

And the £16 million deal is expected to be confirmed this week as Sir Alex Ferguson begins the task of spending the world record £80m fee United have just banked for the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo.

They hope Valencia, who scored just three Premier League goals last term, might be able to replicate the pace and dribbling ability of Ronaldo. However, getting anywhere near his goals output might be far more difficult, a factor emphasised at the JJB Stadium last month when the Ecuador flyer missed a sitter in the defeat to United.

Certainly most United fans - and probably Ferguson himself - would be disappointed if there were not further signings by September 1 given the problems he is juggling with.

As well as Ronaldo, the loss of Carlos Tevez, seemingly bound for rivals Manchester City, leaves another gap.

Karim Benzema has been touted as a potential replacement but has already given vibes he may prefer to go elsewhere, and even then in another year's time.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is another option but the Dutchman is more of a Ruud van Nistelrooy-type figure and Ferguson has been building his teams in a different way of late.

At the back of Ferguson's mind will also be the knowledge Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Edwin van der Sar are all preparing for what is expected to be their final season of top-flight action, with Gary Neville not far behind.

Twelve months ago, United appeared to have the replacements in place but doubts have emerged over Nani, Anderson and Ben Foster, leaving Ferguson with more big decisions to make. There are further question marks over midfielder Owen Hargreaves, who is hoping to return from two years wrecked by a tendinitis problem, and record signing Dimitar Berbatov, who was inconsistent in his debut season.

PA Sport

Comment 29 - 48 of 68

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  1. optimus prime what are saying "so far away",­ i refer to Scousers yes , not mancs......

    From LAMBRETTA, on Tue 30 Jun 2:48PM

  2. I think Spitfire's got the right idea, so far­ anyway.

    From optimus prime, on Tue 30 Jun 2:39PM

  3. premier league champions 2009 man u
    caling cup winners­ 2009 man u
    f.a cup winners 2009 chelsea
    champions­ league winners 2009 barcelona!!
    "we will continue­ the same way we always have and the other c lubs will­ end up with nothing" so the f.a cup and champs­ league are nothing??? discuss.

    From newcastleian1, on Tue 30 Jun 2:33PM

  4. ME LUV LOLLIPOP

    From paddy_buy_yours, on Tue 30 Jun 2:32PM

  5. We will continue in the same way we always have and the­ other clubs will end up with NOTHING again. GLORY GLORY­ MAN UTD AND THE CLUB GOES MARCHING ON ON ON. Our­ dominance will remain. What do you think of the new kit­ chaps ?

    From the silent assassin, on Tue 30 Jun 2:16PM

  6. well kudos to me thrice, like i said not a manc or a­ supporter, but there is something very unsavoury about­ them, the way they act, the way they speak, the way­ they look, bad eggs the lot of them

    From LAMBRETTA, on Tue 30 Jun 2:12PM

  7. what im fed up with is the fact that we appear to be­ "interested" in every player from any club,­ whether they are available or not, whether we need them­ or not. As you said earlier, there are no contracts­ waiting to be signed, no medicals underway that we know­ of and now no mention of the three young brazilians we­ were "supposed" to be after. Still think SAF­ should make spaces available for some of our young­ guns. Go for Benzema, (not sure if Valencia is what we­ need with that dreadful strike rate) and then get the­ players together for some pre season training, the pre­ season tour and see what we've got and where we go­ from there. Last thing he needs to do is splash the­ cash and buy players we don't really need, just so­ we can say we made some big named signings.

    From the silent assassin, on Tue 30 Jun 2:12PM

  8. Kudos to the SPITFIRE twice.

    From Colonel K, on Tue 30 Jun 2:00PM

  9. I believe this coming season the likes of Anderson will­ step up,i think he suffered a little lack of confidence­ at the last part and probably the fact he hasnt scored­ yet plays a part i believe and he has an injury,­ However he has got the summer off and should be ready­ for action this coming season. Berbatov i believe will­ be alot better this season as well.He started out okay­ but he seemed to be taking a little more time than­ normal to settle. But dont forget what a talented­ player he is and he is working with the world best­ manager who will give him the confidence and assurance­ he needs. With Valencia coming in (hope we get him)­ will provide alot more freshness and pace to the­ midfield and wont waste time dancing around like­ ronaldo did at times (not knocking him, a great player­ that will be missed). Carrick will also continue to­ play well and be underated as usual, it baffles me that­ people dont think he is a great player,he effortlessly­ sprays passes around better than most midfielders in­ the Prem and does his defensive duties.Look at the one­ time he didnt play that well what happened in the­ Champions league final (also fletcher wasnt there but­ thats another topic).

    I cant wait for this season alot­ of fans and critics will be very surprised with how­ United will cope.

    From Sean V, on Tue 30 Jun 1:55PM

  10. keith j, thank you, i hate the scouse bums

    From LAMBRETTA, on Tue 30 Jun 1:55PM

  11. Good Assassin mate, hope you are well la'? Agree­ about Berbatov, would be a shame if Hargreaves'­ career is over, although I think Carrick is OK, a tough­ tackling uncompromising midfielder is needed in­ partnership mate, but who???

    From Colonel K, on Tue 30 Jun 1:51PM

  12. SPITFIRE well said

    From keith j, on Tue 30 Jun 1:40PM

  13. personally i'd have preferred it if we'd kept­ Tevez and got rid of Berbatov, but we only want to keep­ players who want to stay with us and clearly he­ didn't, maybe SAF fault for not offering him a deal­ earlier. Maybe SAF was waiting to see what would happen­ with the ongoing Ronaldo saga and unfortunately now­ we've lost both of them.

    From the silent assassin, on Tue 30 Jun 1:36PM

  14. get over it Frank, we have

    From the silent assassin, on Tue 30 Jun 1:31PM

  15. 24. uutech3

    I agree with you, but Liverpool won't­ win it...Benitez, Chelsea won't.....a team of­ OAP's and boring, only leaves Arsenal.

    From Frank400a, on Tue 30 Jun 1:29PM

  16. Berbatov, is a £30million flop

    pmsl

    From Frank400a, on Tue 30 Jun 1:24PM

  17. 4. and

    saf also has the problem that it took Barcelona­ just minutes to end your Champions League glory.­ Catalan vs Matalan...... Class vs Pub side

    PMSFL

    From Frank400a, on Tue 30 Jun 1:23PM

  18. We don't need another Ronny (to the tune of Tina­ Turner's "We don't need another­ hero"). Every person is unique, and equally in­ football, every player is unique... Cantona, Beckham,­ Best, Ronaldo were all different players with different­ skills, abilities and temprements but all had two­ things in common: The No 7 shirt and the wherewithall­ to dicttate and win games. The same was said about­ Keane leaving and Carrick coming in, on the one hand­ you have controlled (but not always) aggression in­ tackles, pin point passing and blistering pace into the­ box from Keane; and on the other you have Carrick who­ is a lot more reserved when tackling, can hold up play,­ pick passes and fire some decent efforts from the edge­ of the box. "Is Carrick worthy of taking that 16­ shirt from Keano", "Is Carrick going to be­ abkle to live up to Keano's reputation?" etc­ etc etc... Answer: No, both different players who­ have their own ways of playing and from what I can­ gather, able to win things too... And I have a point: ­ It's not a case of replacing players with similar,­ it's trying something new with fresh blood and­ changing tact slightly to prevent methods becoming too­ stayed and predictable - excellent team building and­ man management, that's why Fergie has been­ United's tip for the top for 23 years folks!!!

    From Colonel K, on Tue 30 Jun 1:23PM

  19. VALENCIA IS ANOTHER NANI.SAME TYPE OF PLAYER WHO WILL­ BE A LETDOWN.WHY IS SIR ALEX AFTER A LOT OF SOUTH­ AMERICAN PLAYERS?THEY ALWAYS FLOP AT­ UNITED.VERON,KLEBERSON,FORLAN,HEINZE,ANDERSON ALL BAD­ SIGNINGS.

    From rafascrackingup, on Tue 30 Jun 1:22PM

  20. How ya doing Gi5 mate, carrick and berbatov not good­ enough to build a team around and rumour has it that­ hargreaves wont play again. He had bad knees when we­ bought him so its a wonder why we signed him in the­ first place ? Valencia only scored 3 premiership goals­ last season so why is everyone making such a fuss about­ him, surely for that money we could buy someone with a­ better strike rate ?

    From the silent assassin, on Tue 30 Jun 1:16PM
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